“On the floor, I am more at ease. I feel nearer, more a part of the painting, since this way I can walk around it, work from the four sides and literally be in the painting.” In Cathedral Jackson Pollock recorded his personal act of creation. Deliberately placed flings, spurts, and drips of paint seem to resemble both the inside of an atom and the outer realms of the cosmos. Paintings such as Cathedral defined abstract expressionism, a movement that captured the energy, ambition, and power as well as the introspection and often angst and confusion of post–World War II culture in the United States. Jeffrey Grove, Ph.D. The Hoffman Family Senior Curator of Contemporary Art July 2012 for Variations on Theme: Contemporary Art 1950s - Present